Fire escape



July 7, 1925. 1,544,967

A. COHEN FIRE ESCAPE Filed July 26. 1923 A TTORNEY 45 'l thereofshownfin cross section.

.5 'outer wall of the spring casingl'HwWd- Patented July 7, 1925. l

PATENT OFFICE. .l

ANCH'EL COHEN,Y or rITTsBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

' Erma' ESCAPE.`

. Appiiomun nieajruly'zs, 192s. snm m. 65am.

To all whom t may coincer/a:V l v Be it known that 1, ANoHEL COHEN, acitizen of the United States, vresiding at Pittsburgh, inthe county ofAlleghenyl and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in `Fire Escapes, of which the following is aspeci-v fication. v

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements vin fireescapes, and important objects thereof are to provide a device forfacilitating escape from a burning building; which embodiesnovel meansfor completelycolla'psing and storing the ladder member'when not in use;lwhich includes a spring operated spool element adapted to facilitatethe positioning of the ladder for use, and which maybe readily securedto the outer face of the wall of a building. 'v 1 l Further objects ofther invention are' to provide a device of the character described, in amanner as hereinafter set forth, which is simple in its constructionVand arrangement, strong, durable and efficient in its use,

and comparatively Vinexpensive to manufacture. Y v n y y,

' YTo the accomplishment of these and such other objects as mayhereinafter appear, the invention consists of the novel construction,combination and arrangement of 'parts herein specifically describedandwillustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein is shown anembodiment of the invention, butit lis to be understoodl that; changes,variations and modifications I'naybey resorted towhich come within thevscope of vthe claim hereunto reference designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views:-

y Figurev 1 is a fragmentary ofa fire esca' inthe operative position inaccordance with'my invention with portions 1 Figure 2 isl a sectionalside view of a -wall structure provided/with a window, showing anembodiment of my invention attached to the outer face' thereof beneaththe window. `Figure 3 vis a-sectional View of a ladder rung'andassociated parts.' i lig'ure'fr 's an endv view of the ladder spoolillustrating the spring casing and the actuating vspringycarriedthereby, with the front elevation Figure 5 is anenlargedfdetailview of the latching key and latch. j

Referring in detail to` the drawing 11denotes a wall structure `of abuilding includF ing a window 2. A receptacle 3, consisting of a rearwall 4, bottom 5, front wall 6, end walls 7 andI 8, and a cover 9, isfixedn to the outer facev ofthe wall structure 1 directly beneath thewindow 2, by means of securing bolts 10, which latter engage the rearreceptacle wall 4 and the wall structure 1.

The receptacle 3 is preferably rectangular in contour land isconstructed from sheet metal. The end Walls 7 'and 8 thereof are iXedIysecured to respective -ends'of the rear wall 4. The rear end of thebottom 5 isv hinged, as at 11, to the lower end ofthe otally mountedcentrally disposed catch-14 adapted to engage in van openingvprovidedtherefor in the rear wall' 4 for securing the receptacle in the closedposition, asshown in Figure 2, of 'thedrawing f The cover 9, front wall'6,.'and'bottom 5 vare not connected with the'end walls 7 and '8, of thereceptaclew 3,'and when'the catch `14 is released from its'engagementwith the rear wall 4,' the'cover 9, front wall, and bottom 5, due totheir respective hinged connections 13, 12 and 11 will drop by gravityto the vertical position in alignment with respect to each other andwith the vertically disposed rearwall 4, as is clearly shown in Figure2, ofthe drawing, and for the purpose to be described.'

An aXle 15 is horizontally disposed in the f receptacle 3 and isprovided with squared vrends which engage in the supporting hubs l16fixed to the inner 'face of respectiveend walls 7 and 8, and prevent therotation of the axley 15 for the purpose to be described.

:AA spool 17, on 'which the ladder 18 1s adapted to be wound when not inuse, is rotatably mountedonthe axle 15. One end of the spool 17 isprovidedwith an ordinary r spoolflange 17( and a ratchet wheel 19 isfixed to the outer face of the latter to roinner wall 21 of which servesfor the purpose v of the ordinary spool flange.

A coil spring 22 is mounted in the spring casing and has its inner Aendlixedly attached t0 the axle 15, as indicated at 28. The outer end ofthe coil spring 22 is free and is formed to provide a vhook 211.`

The inner casing wall 21 is formed with an elongated rectangular slot 25disposedv tangentially and adjacent to the periphery ofthe inner casingwall 21. A correspondingly shaped latch 26 is pivotally .connected atits approximate center in the slotv 25, as indicated at 27 The pivotalconnection 27 1 of the latch 26 in the slot 25 is frictional and spacedintervals with rungs 29. Each of the rungs 29 consists of a rod 30 theends of which extend and project through `corresponding links ofrespective chains 28. A pipe 31 is mounted on the rod 30 intermediate ofthe chains 28 for the purpose of keeping the chains 28 properly spacedfrom each other. Each end of the rod 80 is provided with a short pipe32and is riveted for securing the latter in position.; The outer end ofeach of' the pipes 32 is .threaded and is provided with .a cap 83'. Therod projections with respective pipes 32 and caps 33 provide hand holdsto facilitate the scaling of the ladder. In addition, the construction'prevents the lateral out-ward movement ofthe chains 28 on the rungs 29.

The rungs 29 of the ladder 18 are of a length-to allow them to be wound,together with'the chains 28, on thespool 17 between the flange 17landthe inner wall `of the spring casing wall 21.

Each of the ladder chains 28 has` one end thereof fixed to the spool 17,as indicated at34. A ratchet lever 35 is pivotally connected to theinner face of the front wall 6 of the f receptacle 3, and engages theratchet wheel the latch 26 is longitudinally positioned and i.

' maintained in its slot 25v and will be Hush When the roll,-

formedby vwinding the ladder 18 upon the spool 17, reaches the slot 25in the inner casing wall 21, the latch 26 is manually shifted toposition it at right' angles with respect to the slot 25.in the inner.casing wall 21, as shown in Figure 1, ofthe drawing. '-The portion ofthe latch 26 extending into the casing is engaged by the hook 241 on thefree end of the spring 22, and the latch key 3.6 is loosely placed toextend circumferentially on the partially wound ladder roll on the spool17. The key offset 37 is positioned to abut against the inwardlyprojecting portion of the latch 26 to maintain the latter in engagementwith the spring 22.V The 'key 36 is held in position upon the ladderroll-by subsequent turns that are added .after the key 36 has beenplaced in position to secure the latch 26. Y

Upon again continuing the rotation of the spool 17 to completely windthereon the unwound portion of the ladder 18, after the hook 24 of thespring 22 has engaged the latch 26 as above described, the spring 22will be tensioned and held in such tensioned position by positioning thebottoni, front wall 6' and cover 9 ofthe ,receptacle in the .l

closed position for when in such position. the ratchet lever 85 may beshifted to engage one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 19 to maintainthe spool 17 in thejtensioned' position.

By engaging the catch 14 of the cover 9 with l Figure 2 of the drawing.The spool 17 being tensioned for rotation in` the clockwisedirection bythe action of the spring-.22, the ratchet wheel 19, carried by the spool17, will tend to force the front receptacle wall 6 outwardly by itsengagement with the latter through the ratchet lever 85 therebyaccelerating the positioning of the hinged vbottom 5, front wall 6 andcover 9 to the vertical position as above described.

When the ratchet lever 35 disengages the ratchet wheel 19, the spool,17,on which the ladder 18 is wound, will rotate in the clockwise directionbythe action ofv the kspring 22, and the ladder 18 will unwind from thespool 17 to the lowered or extended position. As the latch key 36` is:held; in position by its engagement with certain coils of the ladder 18,the former will be released to drop free as soon as such securing coilsare unwound from the spool 17 by the action of spring 22. Upon releaseof the latch key 36 the latch 26 will shift into the slot 25 due to thepull thereon of the spring 22, and thereby disengage the spring hook 24from the latch 26. The spring 22 is now disconnected from the spool 17and will remain idly distensioned on the axle l5. The spool 17, however,will continue its rotation to lower the ladder 18 as a suiiicientportion of the latter will have been fed out to supply ample weight topro-vide for the continuation of the unwinding operation by the descentof the ladder to the lowered position.

It will be noted that in positioning the ladder 18 for use it is onlynecessary for the operator to release the cover catch 14 from itsengagement with the rear wall 4 of the receptacle 3.

IVhat I claim is In combination a fire escape comprising a receptacleadapted to be secured'to the outer face of a wall structure beneath awindow opening,'said receptacle having its rear wall, bottom, frontwall, and cover hingedly connected together to permit of said bottom,front wall, and cover shifting by gravity to a vertical position inalignment with said rear wall, said cover provided with a catch ing aratchet wheel and the other end there- Y of provided with a springcasing, the inner wall of said casing formed with a slot, a latch memberpivoted in said slot, a flexible ladder having one end secured to saidspool and adapted to be wound thereon, a latch key adapted to be securedby its engagement `by said ladder for securing said latch member atright angles with'respect to said inner wall, a spring mounted in saidcasing and having one end fixed to said axle and the other end thereofformed to provide a hook capable of engaging said latch member when thelatterl is positioned at right angles with respect to said inner wall,for tensioning said spring when said spool is rotated to wind saidladder thereon, and a ratchet lever carried by said front receptaclewall and engaging said ratchet wheel for securing said spool in thetensioned position when said receptacle is in the closed position,substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I alix my signature.

ANcHEL coHEN.

